A Wake-up Call

Right now members of the Klingon Assault Group (KAG) are locked in a desperate fight with an unseen enemy. The prize for this contest is what song will be used for the wake-up call on STS-133, the last trip to space for the Space Shuttle Discovery. The wakeup song has been a tradition of the space program since the days of the Apollo missions. Now NASA is giving us two chances to be a part of this history! NASA wants input as to what wakeup songs to use during the final missions of the Space Shuttle Program! Listen to the suggested tunes and cast your vote here.

Members of KAG have joined in a struggle to make the Star Trek Theme Song that song. This is not a single vote system; as Nichelle Nichols says "Someone said "Vote Early & Often" wasn't fair. 2 late 2 vote early & voting mult times is fine - just like Amer Idol. Using bots - not fair." (Forgive the shortened words, this came from a Tweet by her on the subject of multiple voting.) So the struggle is to get as many votes cast for the Star Trek Theme Song before Discovery's launch as possible. Klingons of KAG had opened the lead for the song about a week ago to a comfortable 100,000 vote margin. Then out of the blue came a push for Blue Sky (

a song written by the group Big Head Todd for an earlier shuttle flight). It is the relentless, inhuman voting pattern for this song that has lead some to question whether bots were being used to cast votes for it. But whatever the reason (at the time of this writing) Blue Sky has a comfortable 40,000 vote lead over The Star Trek Theme Song. with only a few days to go.

So Star Trek fans pass the word. Mobilize support and come to the aid of the Klingon Empire (who has been waging the battle up to now) and vote for the song you would like the Discovery astronauts be woken up to. I hope that you will make that the Star Trek Theme song (remember that the first Space Shuttle was named Enterprise), but even if it is not do vote. And do so as often as you are able!

Qapla'

KIM HARRISON'S 4TH ANNUAL HALLOWEEN COSTUME CONTEST

From author Kim Harrison:

Can you believe it's that time year again already? I'm hosting my 4th annual on-line Halloween costume contest. If you've entered before, the submission guidelines will be familiar with just a couple minor changes, so, please take a moment to check them out so I won't have to try to track you down to find out little details like how you want to be identified, and as always, don't send me a picture unless everyone in the shot agrees that I can post it online with an identifying name. You can send me pictures from previous Halloweens, but not if you've entered them in previous years.

THIS YEAR'S CATEGORIES ARE:
Pets & Babies: If your child can't say Trick-or-Treat, please enter them here. Winner for this category will be picked at random.
Kids: If you knock on doors, say "trick-or-treat" and don't have a driver's license then, enter your picture here.
Over-The-Top: This is for the really elaborate ones that are good enough to find on a Hollywood set.
Make-Me-Laugh:
I'll give you a hint- Men in fuzzy outfits seem to win a lot.
Gruesome: Blood, missing parts, you get the idea.
Group Shot: Three or more. Be sure EVERYONE agrees to have the picture posted.
Hollows Shot: For those Rachels, Ivys, Jenks, Rynn Cormells and Nicks out there. I'll take group shots here, to, BUT- you must ALL be Hollows characters in the picture.
E2 (Everything Else): If it doesn't fit in the categories above, place it here.
Best Carved Pumpkin: Fairly self explanatory. Show me your best carving.

What You Could Win:

Category winners will receive a signed ARC of-Pale Demon

Please make sure your email is valid through November.

Legalish Mumbo - Jumbo:

There is no cash value for these prizes, and there's no need to purchase anything to enter. Odds of winning depend upon the number of entries received, and I pick the category winners depending upon my mood and the orientation of the moon. Submission indicates permission to put your picture up on the Internet. If you don't tell me how you want to be identified, I will use the name associated with your e-mail. (first name only)

How To Submit:

Cropping your picture to within 400 X 400 pixels and a file size of near 50 KB will get you a virtual hug from me. Then, send the pictures to "Guy" at his email address located in the "Submission Guidelines". Click the Submissions Guidelines link at the top of this newsletter.

2009 WINNERS

There it is, guys. Have fun!
--Kim

Virgin Galactic to begin Suborbital Flights

Virgin Galactic, the spaceflight arm of Sir Richard Branson's empire, announced Friday that it would be the anchor tenant for the $198 million dollar space port building built 45 mile north of Las Cruses, New Mexico. Named Spaceport America, it will stretch across the flat dusty plain of the desert with a nearly two-mile-long runway designed to support almost every type of aircraft on Earth (or at least her skies). It will also provide support of day-to-day space tourism endeavors and payload launch operations.

Unlike today's space tourism ventures that require the tourist to plunk down $20 million dollars, ride up to the International Space Station and sit around in the Russian habit for two weeks. Virgin Galactic has commissioned Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites, the winner of the Ansri X-Prize, to design and build WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo. The first of Virgin Galactic's five ships will be named Enterprise and will carry 6 passengers and 2 pilots on a 2.5 hour suborbital flight where they will experience 5 minutes of weightlessness (the seats will retract to give the passengers the full use of the cabin for that 5 minutes) before returning to the New Mexican desert.

SpaceShipTwo, once it has been released from its lifting body WhiteKnightTwo at an altitude of around 9 miles, will reach a speed of roughly 2500 mph using a single hybrid rocket engine. Unlike the Space Shuttle that descends at 160,000 mph and needs a sophisticated heat dissipation system (the shuttle heat tiles), SpaceShipTwo will re-enter at speeds low enough to us a feathered re-retry system.

A ticket for one of these suborbital flights will be $200,000 and the company already has 380 individuals who have put down more that $50 million in deposits for a ride. Though Sir Branson says he and his family will be one of the first passengers to go.

Star Wars Celebration V Part 4

The same person, who accused me of not knowing what a modern convention was all about, also said that he did not go to conventions to meet other fans. So attending both Celebration V and Megacon this year had me worried that each would be attended by an inhospitable crowd. That is not the case! Large professionally run conventions are still about fans meeting other fans. Everyone I had already known before the convention was finding online friends they had to link back up with. Everyone attending was easily approachable to talk about our joint interest and the things we do for it. Everyone there was there to have fun, make new friends and share what they do.

While I didn't pursue the topic but all of the fan displays present at the experiences were non-commercial. The fans responsible for them did not charge any fees for photographs and they weren't selling anything. Those that were selling related products were like Hasbro and had licensed their displays. A lot of booths were giving away related items, like the two photos I got of myself; one as Han Solo frozen in carbonite and another as Starkiller from The Force Unleashed II. They had a fan building area for the Hoth battle scene from The Empire Strikes Back (it was the 30^th anniversary of the film), afterwards people were able to take the sections they built home as souvenirs of the experience.

The 501^st organized a "Droid Hunt" the third day of the event, as a way to get not costumed attendees to play in the Star Wars environment. It was great fun. I understand a local member of the 501^st is trying to bring Droid hunting to all the conventions in Omaha. Make it work, Ben, it's sure to be a hit.

Since the area of the convention was so big you never really got an idea of how many people were in each of the recognized fan groups until they did their photo shoots in the main entrance or their parade around the facility. I don't think I got everyone in any of the photos I shot those days. These are people from around the world coming together to meet other people sharing their interest.

It really doesn't matter what part of fandom you are in. It is all about coming together and sharing our experiences with people who care about those experiences. Try describing what TARDIS means to someone at a NU football game. It is one thing to be a fan, but a much more encompassing experience to be part of fandom. Support your local conventions, like OSFest, and become part of our family.

October 23rd Fan Activities

This Saturday there will be a couple of fannish happenings going on in our area.

The Strategic Air & Space Museum in Ashland, NE will be hosting a Halloween event. Around 10 AM they will have trick-or-treating around the aircraft, followed by a Costume Contest at 11 AM in their ConAgra Theatre. The contest is open to all ages. Everyone will have a chance to parade across the stage and showcase his or her costume for fun and a chance to win prizes. (Please remember that this is a family friendly event and they ask that you keep the costumes fun and appropriate.) Prizes include: Grand Prize $100.00 Store Gift card; First Prize $75.00 Store Gift card; Second Prize $50.00 Store Gift card; and Third Prize $25.00 Store Gift card. Members of the 501st Legion Star Wars Stormtroopers will also be on site throughout the morning for photographs and fun. But I also understand that Klingons for IKV Sun's Glory may also make an appearance.

For something more down to earth, Benson will again host the Omaha Zombie Walk. While the walk actually begins at 6PM, things will begin happening around 4PM. You can either come dressed as a zombie or they will have experts onsite to create a zombie persona for you (a $3.00 charge will apply to cover their costs). Around 5:45 PM the rules of the walk will be announced, with the walk commencing at 6PM. For a map of the route, just click here. After you return, there is a Zombie Hop in The Waiting Room until 2AM. Yes, there will be a costume contest for the best Female Zombie, Male Zombie, and 50's Themed Zombie. And DrSanGuinery.org is holding a Zombikini contest also as a fundraiser of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. They have the rules on their website and will have a booth at the event for last minute signup.

Next weekend is Halloween with its associated activities. Me, I plan to curl up in front of Turner Classic Movies for their weekend of great old horror flicks. Then we follow that with two conventions in our area. Icon is in Cedar Rapids and AnimeNebrasKon will be at the Holiday Inn Central the weekend of Nov. 5-7. So over the next few weekends, get out there and have fun. You have been warned!

Suborbital Flights Coming to a Caribbean Island Near You

In their press release dated October 5^th, 2010 Space Experience Curacao (SXC) and XCOR Aerospace, Inc. announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for the wet lease of the Lynx suborbital spacecraft. What exactly is a wet lease? A wet lease is a leasing arrangement whereby one airline (the lessor) provides the aircraft, the complete crew, all maintenance, and necessary insurance (ACMI) to another airline (the lessee), which pays by hours operated. So providing they can get the necessary U.S. Governmental approvals to station the Lynx on the island of Curacao, SXC plans to begin space tourism flight from Space Port Curacao by January 2014.

In a statement as to why XCOR was chosen, SXC Co-founder and Managing Partner Ben Droste said "SXC has chosen the Lynx due to its innovative but straightforward and robust design, as well as its enormous commercial potential and competitive viability. The combination of the Lynx experience with the beautiful and highly suitable location of the Caribbean Island of Curacao is a winning experience in our book. Spaceflight participants will not only have the incredible experience of flying in XCOR's Lynx spacecraft beyond Earth's atmosphere, they will have the added benefit of taking off from and returning to one of the world's best vacation destinations."

It may be time to start saving up for a real adventurous vacation.

XCOR Aerospace is a California corporation based in Mojave, CA. The company is in the business of developing and producing safe, reliable and reusable rocket powered vehicles, propulsion systems, advanced non-flammable composites and other enabling technologies. This is the company that OSFest 3's Science Guest of Honor; Art Bozlee is a part of and offering us looks into what they have been doing at the last two conventions.

Space Experience Curacao (SXC) was founded in 2008 to lead the world changing trend in providing commercial space launch facilities and suborbital flight services from the Caribbean island of Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles, and soon to be an independent governing entity as part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. SXC intends to offer suborbital space tourism flights and scientific research missions out of Space Port Curacao.

Five Million Years to Earth

It was a long and pleasant night last Friday. I hope those of you who are interested in old horror movies, not the slasher films of today but the classic monster movies, were able to catch the entire collection of Hammer Films mummy movies.

This Friday, Turner Classic Movies is showing a different breed of Hammer films. They have more of a science fiction edge to them than the traditional Hammer films of this period. The 8:30 PM (CT) movie is an adaption of the third BBC serial in the Quatermass series; Quatermass and the Pit. It is the first of the Quatermass adaptions that was filmed in color and released in America in 1967 as Five Million Years to Earth. The film was directed by Roy Ward Baker from a script by Nigel Kneale (the man who created Professor Bernard Quatermass for the BBC) and finally replaced the American actor Brian Donlevy in the title role with Scottish actor Andrew Keir. Watch for a very young Julian Glover (General Veers from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and Walter Donovan from Indy 3) as Col. Breen.

Professor Bernard Quatermass is the head of the British Experimental Rocket Group in the 1950's and 60's. So while digging a new subway line under London an object suspected to be an unexploded bomb from World War 2 is discovered to have very unusual properties, Professor Quatermass is called in for consultation. Of course he believes it is a rocket though not a German one. So where did it come from and why?

The movie version of this story had a much larger special effects budget than the serial and it sets out to show us the answer to this question with disastrous results until Quatermass and his colleagues combine science and superstition to save London. Click here for the trailer.

There were four serials made, three for the BBC and one with Thames Television. THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT and QUATERMASS II have both been lost and the only versions of them available are the Hammer Films versions; THE QUATERMASS XPERMENT and QUATERMASS 2. Both were filmed in black and white ATARRING American actor Brian Donlevy. They are both characteristic genre films of that period. QUARTERMASS AND THE PIT still exists as a serial and movie, FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH. The final entry in the Quatermass collection was a television serial simply named QUARTERMASS starring John Mills that was later released as a film by Euston Films as THE QUATERMASS CONCLUSION. If you follow Doctor Who really close, this is the character referred to in Remembrance of the Daleks (Sylvester McCoy) and Planet of the Dead (David Tennant).

As a kid, this movie gave me a great scare. Today it still holds its own as a well crafted tale. If you have the time on Friday night I believe you will enjoy a voyage that was Five Million Miles to Earth.